Nondescript building on Daniel Webster Highway that you have to enter from the rear, but easy…read moreparking makes up for it. Lots of nooks and crannies, including an L-shaped bar, before you get to the main dining room. VERY lengthy menu comprising at least four Asian cuisines. My wife and I tried 10 dishes over two visits.
-- Scallion Pancake: My wife chose this. Not exactly blazing new ground, but light, crispy, more scallion flavor than most, and ginger dipping sauce darker, thicker, clingier, and tastier than most. Above average.
-- Cold Noodles with Sesame Sauce: Gotta mix this all up to get all the flavors distributed. Thin noodles, softer than most, and mildly spicy sauce saucier than most-- meaning it somewhat overpowered the noodles textually. Taste wise, no problem. Average.
-- Singapore Chow Mei Fun Noodles with Tofu: This is my wife's dish and her domain. She's pretty particular about how she wants her noodles, and she was pleased that this rendition was neither too wet nor too sweet. Thumbs up from her. I tried a small bite and agreed. Above average.
-- Biang Biang Noodles with Spicy Cumin Lamb: My favorite dish of the day and a pleasure both taste wise and texture wise. Long, thick noodles that felt homemade, not too sticky, not impossible to break, and nice wiggle. Not particularly spicy in the hot pepper way, but very spicy in the flavor way, with the cumin, as well as complementary vegetables. I've had this dish in a bunch of places and I gotta say this was the freshest I've ever had the lamb. Just enough liquid to make it work while letting the noodles and lamb shine. Well above average. Some heat would bring it over the top.
-- Fish Filets in Sichuan Hot Chili Broth: Standard dish, solid execution with no surprises. Very tender fish, perhaps a little fuller if cut than most and a bit less spicy than most. Average, but not a bad average-- this dish is usually good and so was this rendition.
-- Honey Spareribs: The second visit started with a dud here, as the ribs looked and felt very old. Honey glaze with odd cinnamony notes couldn't hide the dryness. I sent them back and they took them off the bill.
-- Cucumber and Fungus in Vinegar Sauce: A cool, refreshing dish with the cukes well marinated but still crisp to the bite.
-- Mini Pork Buns: Small (grape-sized) balls of pork surrounded by bao dough, steamed and lightly fried, served with a sweetened soy sauce. Not bad, not remarkable.
--Sautéed String Beans: Thin, moist, cooked through but still retaining snap, slightly blackened in a good way, and accented with salty fermented bits. Very nicely done, though not spicy as billed.
-- Ma Po Tofu without Meat: Soft, silky tofu and a smooth, mildly spicy sauce without any bits and pieces to add interest. Good flavor but a little one-note.
Good service. You don't often get full service, never mind good service, at a hand pulled noodle joint, so this was a pleasant surprise.
The interpretations of classic dishes were different enough that I can see some naysayers, but I mostly liked mostly everything, with the first visit very strong and the second a bit of a drop off.
Very good value, as the volume of servings was higher than most and the pricing was lower than most.
HUGE menu. Some might say too huge, too ambitious, and I agree. But as long as the execution is there in a few key dishes-- like the biang biang noodles I'll mostly stick to--I'm happy. My wife likes it, so there'll be more visits.
